CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland patrolmen's union said Monday that Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty has bowed to special interests in the investigation of the high-speed chase that ended with two dead in a hail of gunfire in November 2012.

McGinty's office has been presenting evidence to a county grand jury examining the chase and the shooting of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams for about a year. The union said that McGinty's comments last week before the Civic Leader Institute hinted that charges will be filed -- a reversal, it said, from some earlier comments McGinty's office made.

The prosecutor said "the buffalo are coming,'' a reference the union took to mean that charges would be filed against officers. He also said that, though regrettable, lessons would have to be learned.

"We don't want to pick a fight with Tim McGinty, the person who is handling this case, but I'll be damned if we are going to sit back on the sidelines right now,'' said Patrick D'Angelo, the attorney representing the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association.

McGinty, in a statement, fired back: "This office has been thoroughly reviewing and reconstructing the events of that night. We have retained outside experts to assist in that continuing effort. We want a complete understanding that will serve the interests of justice and avoid unnecessary deaths in the future, either civilian or police. We will follow the evidence, wherever it leads

Malissa Williams

"This investigation will not be driven by any special interests -- including the police union.''

Dozens of officers chased Russell's 1979 Malibu through Cleveland to a middle-school parking lot in East Cleveland, where the shots were fired. Authorities did not find a weapon at the scene. The estates of Russell and Williams have filed a wrongful death suit in U.S. District Court in Cleveland.

Jeff Follmer, the president of the patrolmen's union, said in a statement Monday that McGinty helped form a task force to investigate the shooting. The unit included investigators from Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office and McGinty's office, as well as other law enforcement officials.

He said the task force concluded at the end of its investigation that no crimes were committed. Follmer also said that Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine told Mayor Frank Jackson in a phone call prior to the release of the investigation a year ago "that (DeWine) would not file any criminal charges against the officers if he were the county prosecutor.''

"Now, after pressure from certain special interests, Prosecutor McGinty, evidently speaking for the grand jury, hints that charges will be filed,'' Follmer said. "This is totally contrary to what both he and (assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Richard Bell) stated previously.

"It is contrary to the conclusions of the task force members, including the State Attorney General. The facts have not changed since the conclusion of the investigation; the only new factor is the special interest pressure.''

D'Angelo said that the special interests are attorneys for the estates of Russell and Williams, as well as ministers and residents ''who have pushed for their perception of justice without knowing what the facts are.''

Last June, Jackson told The Plain Dealer that he was angry with DeWine's statement at a February 2013 news conference, when the attorney general described the findings of the task force's investigation. DeWine called the chase in which officers fired 137 shots into Russell's 1979 Chevrolet Malibu part of a "systemic failure'' of the department. Jackson said DeWine's statement absolved the officers of any culpability.

In an interview with the newspaper, DeWine said he did not recall telling Jackson in a phone call to the mayor that the officers did nothing wrong or that he would not charge them if he were the prosecutor.

"If I would have said something like that, it would have been strictly hypothetical,'' DeWine said. "My opinion in regards to the criminal prosecution of the case is irrelevant.''

In the summer, McGinty's office said DeWine's statements did not impede the investigation.

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